Environmental Governance and National Preparedness towards 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: A Tale of Two Countries

摘要

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been adopted under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and act as a successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is therefore important to build on the MDGs' achievements and address gaps and weakness that remain unresolved, thereby preparing properly for the 2030 Agenda. Despite the remarkable progress of Bangladesh and Indonesia towards many of the MDGs, there is inherent tension regarding the securing of a successful sustainable trajectory. Gaining environmental sustainability while aiming for inter-linkages and synergies between environmental, social and economic dimensions has remained an unresolved issue as both countries have more or less implemented development efforts in isolation, with inadequate consideration of the potential impacts on the environment. This paper, therefore, seeks to address gaps in environmental governance in both countries for gaining environmental sustainability and for ensuring national preparedness towards the SDG implementation. With that in mind, this article presents a diagnostic status of the current progress on environmental governance in Bangladesh and Indonesia using development indicators of progress towards the MDGs and their determinants in relation to environmental sustainability. The comparison of these two cases provides fruitful insights for drawing lessons on how environmental governance needs to be addressed at the level of individual low- and middle-income countries for their preparedness and transition to the SDGs.